Extron NAV Pro AVoIP Enables Flexible Collaboration at University of Texas

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research institute of higher learning. It is one of the largest and most successful universities, positively impacting the health, culture, education, and economy of the Hispanic community they serve. The AV systems within the Rehabilitation Sciences Complex used for specialized rehabilitation health services training and nursing studies were due for an upgrade that included support for active learning. The original analog AV systems were replaced with an all-digital solution. The installation incorporates products using the school’s preferred brand, Extron.

“Extron was able to facilitate and support our needs to make the audio visual system fit the complexity of the teaching and learning pedagogies,” says Mike Pitcher, Director of Learning Environments for the University of Texas at El Paso. “All this without a lot of extra time, effort, and investment.”

Each active learning multipurpose room includes two instructor lecterns, five student team stations with a 75″ interactive touch display, and a front-of-room projection system with a 165″ screen. Sources range from university servers and Apple TV to PTZ cameras, a PC within the instructor lectern, and AV connectivity for personal devices at each station and lectern. Students are able to annotate directly on a presentation at their station and save the screen with their notes for later review. Content from any source can be sent to one or more of the display devices over the university network using the Extron NAV Pro AV over IP system.

The NAV system is deployed as a high-performance AV matrix solution, combining the flexibility of an IP-based system with virtual video and audio switching. Video signals are distributed over the UTEP network at ultra‑low latency and bit rates, while ensuring optimal image quality. The same system also supports audio signals, streamlining the installation. NAV 1G encoders and scaling decoders are integrated into each station and instructor lectern. To manage the NAV endpoints, the NAVigator system manager is installed within the primary lectern, enabling any faculty member to customize content selection and presentation to best fit their personal teaching style. The faculty appreciated its quick switching speed and user-friendly operation, and the support team found the new installation easy to maintain and expand.